This invention relates generally to step ladders, and more particularly to a multi-section step ladder which is attachable to a pole or mast to facilitate scaling thereof.
The term "linesman" is applicable to one who sets up or repairs communication or power lines strung on utility poles. To climb a utility pole safely, the linesman must acquire skill in the use of leg irons. A typical leg iron consists of a long shank shaped at its lower end into a stirrup and having a sharp gaff welded thereto. The top of the shank is provided with an adjustable extension sleeve which enables the linesman to fit the iron to his leg.
The gaff is designed to bite into the pole to provide anchorage for the climber. In the early days, the poles were made of soft pine and fairly thick gaffs could be used, but with the harder woods currently in use, sharper gaffs are necessary to cut into the wood with sufficient depth to assure safety. But whether the gaff is thick or thin, climbing with leg irons is damaging to the poles, for the poles are gouged by the gaffs. The gashes therein render the poles highly susceptible to decay and reduce their effective life.
A greater objection, however, to the use of climbing irons is that they not only dictate a fairly long training period to instruct a linesman in their proper use, but even when the linesman acquires adequate skill, it takes substantial muscular effort to climb with irons. Also, the linesman must always exercise care to be sure that his irons are in good condition and that the gaffs are properly sharpened.
Another factor one must take into account is that many linesmen splicers and installers do not have occasion to climb poles regularly. Thus they may fall out of training and lose the muscular facility necessary to climbing, as a result of which accidents may occur. Accidents also arise during climbing with leg irons due to so-called "cut-outs." When a climber fails to strike the pole with the point of the gaff at the correct angle, the gaff will not bite in sufficiently and the iron will not hold. Yet the angle of striking gaffs into poles is critical to within a few degrees, and to climb correctly requires an unusual and somewhat unnatural action, often resulting in pain or discomfort.
The problems faced by men who wear climbing irons is compounded for women. While in the past it may have been unthinkable to employ women as linesmen or splicers, the movement toward sexual equality in all fields has reached a point where women are fully eligible for employment in outside-plant jobs heretofore reserved for men.
This is particularly true in the public utility fields where there presently exists a heavy emphasis by the Federal Government on the equal employment of women in outside craft jobs such as linesmen. Indeed, the more appropriate term is now linesperson. While women with proper training are perfectly capable of setting up and repairing lines, they are ill-suited for leg irons.